1 Introduction

In this report, some summaries of Referral to Treatment Time (RTT), with a focus on NHS providers in the North region, are presented. The summaries are based on the Referral to Treatment Time Index (RTTI).

Please, refer to the documentation of RTTI for definitions, examples and other details.

This report is based on RTT data from the NHS website , which includes data up to May, 2025.


All visual displays in this report, tables and graphs are interactive.

By hovering with the mouse over graphs, further information is displayed.

Interactivity in tables is given through the ability to filter by values in certain columns.

The table of contents, on the left side of this document, is also interactive. Click on a section to expand its subsections and navigate the document. Some subsections are tabbed.


Some acronyms used

  • DTA: Decision To Admit
  • RTT: Referral to Treatment Time
  • RTTI: Referral to Treatment Time Index
  • IH: Independent Health


2 Fixed time summaries

This section presents summaries of waiting times on May, 2025.

2.1 The distribution of RTTI on May, 2025

The boxplots show RTTI for each medical specialties (or treatment functions) in May, 2025 and each pathway.

Subsections are presented as tabs below.

2.1.1 Incomplete DTA


Figure 2.1: Boxplots of RTTI by medical specialty for Incomplete pathways with DTA in May, 2025. Each point represents a provider in the NHS North Region.


Providers with RTTI larger than \(Q_3 + 1.5 IR\), where \(Q_3\) is the 3rd quartile and \(IR\) is the interquartile range of RTTI, are considered as “outliers”, i.e. they are providers with a very large RTTI, compared to the RTTI of the other providers, within the treatment function.

In the following table, the “outlying” providers are identified using the rule above. The table can be filtered by Provider and Treatment Function.

Table 2.1: NHS Providers with very large RTTI, when compared with peers in the region, within a medical specialty. Incomplete pathways with a DTA. May, 2025.


2.1.2 Incomplete


Figure 2.2: Boxplots of RTTI by medical specialty for Incomplete pathways in May, 2025. Each point represents a provider in the NHS North Region.


Providers with RTTI larger than \(Q_3 + 1.5 IR\), where \(Q_3\) is the 3rd quartile and \(IR\) is the interquartile range of RTTI, are considered as “outliers”, i.e. they are providers with a very large RTTI, compared to the RTTI of the other providers, within the treatment function.

In the following table, the “outlying” providers are identified using the rule above. The table can be filtered by Provider and Treatment Function.

Table 2.2: NHS Providers with very large RTTI, when compared with peers in the region, within a medical specialty. Incomplete pathways. May, 2025.

2.1.3 Completed DTA


Figure 2.3: Boxplots of RTTI by medical specialty for Completed pathways with DTA in May, 2025. Each point represents a provider in the NHS North Region.


Providers with RTTI larger than \(Q_3 + 1.5 IR\), where \(Q_3\) is the 3rd quartile and \(IR\) is the interquartile range of RTTI, are considered as “outliers”, i.e. they are providers with a very large RTTI, compared to the RTTI of the other providers, within the treatment function.

In the following table, the “outlying” providers are identified using the rule above. The table can be filtered by Provider and Treatment Function.

Table 2.3: NHS Providers with very large RTTI, when compared with peers in the region, within a medical specialty. Completed pathways with a DTA. May, 2025.

2.1.4 Completed No DTA


Figure 2.4: Boxplots of RTTI by medical specialty for Complete pathways with no DTA in May, 2025. Each point represents a provider in the NHS North Region.


Providers with RTTI larger than \(Q_3 + 1.5 IR\), where \(Q_3\) is the 3rd quartile and \(IR\) is the interquartile range of RTTI, are considered as “outliers”, i.e. they are providers with a very large RTTI, compared to the RTTI of the other providers, within the treatment function.

In the following table, the “outlying” providers are identified using the rule above. The table can be filtered by Provider and Treatment Function.

Table 2.4: NHS Providers with very large RTTI, when compared with peers in the region, within a medical specialty. Completed pathways with no DTA. May, 2025.



2.2 Ranking of medical specialties by RTTI

The following table contains medical specialties ranked by the regional (North Region) level RTTI on May, 2025. This is for NHS providers. The higher the rank the higher the RTTI. The number in brackets is the RTTI.

As can be seen, RTTI where there is a DTA is higher. Also, Elderly Medicine, General Internal Medicine, and Mental Health (except for incomplete pathways with a DTA) have some of the lowest waiting times (RTTI <1), at least in May, 2025.

On the other hand, Gynaecology, Oral Surgery and Ear Nose and Throat are among the medical specialties where waiting times are the longest as of May, 2025.

Table 2.5: Ranking of medical specialties by RTTI, for each pathway type. The higher the rank, the higher the RTTI. May, 2025.


Alternatively, the information in the table can be displayed as follows

Figure 2.5: Ranking of medical specialties in the North Region. May, 2025


And for comparison with national level RTTI.

North Region level in blue;

National level in grey.

Figure 2.6: Ranking of medical specialties in the North Region. Gray bars represent the national level RTTI. May, 2025


2.3 RTTI by provider and medical specialty

Click on the white filter boxes, below the column names, to choose a region, provider or medical specialty.

Empty cells represent a missing value (no information about the provider for the medical specialty).


Table 2.6: Lookup table of RTTI by medical specialty of NHS Providers in the North RegionMay, 2025.


2.4 Ranked RTTI of medical specialties by provider

Low rank corresponds to low RTTI.

The table can be filtered. Click on the white boxes below the column names.


Table 2.7: Lookup table of NHS Providers in the North Region by medical specialty ranked by RTTI (ranked within the provider). May, 2025.